Mike and Darlene’s Weekly DEAL!

Hello again everyone and Happy Friday!

Now that we’re into the 4th Quarter and most people are winding down in anticipation of the Holidays, it’s cruise BARGAIN time! November and early December are when the best deals come out, and this year is no different.

IF you want a great deal…the Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas the week of November 23 is the ship for you. This is a 13-night Transatlantic crossing from Southampton (London) to Fort Lauderdale aboard one of the largest cruise ships at sea—packed with TONS of stuff to do at sea AND in port. It’s got everything—London, Paris, Spain, Portugal—tour your brains out in those places…then relax for six glorious days at sea as you travel in luxury home to Fort Lauderdale! Here’s the itinerary:

Royal Caribbean Intl
Independence of the Seas

Mon, 11/23
Southampton (London), England – Embarkation – 05:00 PM

Tue, 11/24, Le Havre, France (Paris) 07:00 AM – 09:00 PM

Wed, 11/25, Cherbourg, France, 09:00 AM – 06:00 PM

Thu, 11/26, At Sea

Fri, 11/27, Vigo, Spain, 10:00 AM – 06:00 PM

Sat, 11/28, At Sea

Sun, 11/29, Funchal, Madeira (Portugal), 08:00 AM – 05:00 PM

Mon, 11/30 – Sat, 12/05, At Sea (6 days)

Sun, 12/06, Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Disembarkation – 06:00 AM
Just as relaxing is the price! Take this cruise for as little as $599 plus tax of $117.47 per person–$699 for a window and just $849 for a balcony!

If you’re single, you’re in luck! The single supplement for this trip is only 50%, so you can cruise for as little as $906.47 for an interior!

There’s only one catch…(it’s a tiny one)…this is a special Royal Caribbean fare and can only be booked on Tuesday, October 20. Here’ what you do…If you’d like to take this cruise, give us a call right away at 1-800-267-7613 at let us know what category you’d like. Then, first thing Tuesday, we’ll get with Royal Caribbean, hold your room and verify pricing. We’ll contact you to get your payment info—then…you pack!

Remember, all pricing is per person based on double occupancy, is subject to availability and does not include airfare. Optional travel insurance is also additional.

Give us a call right away and ask about other special pricing Royal Caribbean has for next Tuesday—there are lots of ships and sailings with special Tuesday, October 20 pricing. We’ll look forward to hearing from you!

Shopping Your Airfare

By Mike & Darlene Jordan
If the internet has trained anyone to do anything, it’s to get air fare to just about anywhere…and get it cheap.
At least that’s what consumers are made to believe.
Don’t get us wrong; we’re not about to get on a soapbox about using a travel agent to book your air to Grandma’s this holiday season instead of doing it yourself. Airlines don’t pay travel agents for booking passengers on their jets anymore, so we generally don’t book air for someone unless it’s attached to a cruise or tour package.
No, we won’t preach but we will warn and, hopefully, try to educate.
Sure, the TV commercials make it look easy…and sometimes it is. You go online, plug in your dates, check the fares, pick the flights and pay. But here are a few warnings:
First, is the site you’re looking at really giving you all of the fares that are available? Maybe not. For example, we’re heading to Fort Lauderdale from Denver next month to preview the brand-new Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas, which will be the largest cruise ship afloat. Unfortunately, the event is on the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, so airfares aren’t as low as they might be a couple of weeks later. In checking with one of the most popular online sites we find that there is only one airline offering a non-stop flight to Fort Lauderdale, Frontier, at a cost of about $300 per person. Well, we know that’s not true. Southwest Airlines offers flights to Fort Lauderdale, but that airline is nowhere to be found on the site.
We checked with the Southwest Airlines website, and sure enough there’s a non-stop to Fort Lauderdale and return. In this case the cost was more than Frontier’s, but Southwest often has lower fares. The point is to check the airlines’ individual websites and the popular travel sites if you really want to get the best fare.
Our next warning is to make sure you haven’t made any mistakes on your reservation before you press the “purchase” button. Most online sites offer only non-refundable fares; that’s why they’re so cheap. Making any kind of change to your reservation will cost you—usually about $100 per ticket! So much for the lowest fare. You can select a refundable fare category on most sites, if you want, but that somewhat defeats the purpose of using an online site if you’re looking for the lowest fares. Refundable tickets are always much more expensive.
Warning #3 is about timing. This mostly applies to those of you who might be booking your own air for a cruise or other event. Your cruise itinerary might say that your ship leaves from Fort Lauderdale at 5:00 p.m., but that doesn’t mean you can fly into their airport at 3:00. Even 2:00 is cutting it close.
Why? There are a couple of reasons. The first is weather. That ship is going to sail at 5:00 whether you’re on it or not and a winter snowstorm in Denver (or somewhere else, for that matter) that causes flight delays into the Sunshine State could cause you to miss your ship. Remember, it takes almost 6 hours on the clock to get to Florida from Denver; about 4 in the air and a 2 hour time difference. That’s assuming you have a non-stop flight. If you’re flying on the cheap, you probably don’t have a non-stop and your travel time will be even longer. We always recommend that anyone departing on a cruise from Florida fly into their departure city a day early. It takes the stress out of the trip and you’re well rested and ready for a good time when you board your ship.
The other reason is Uncle Sam’s Department of Homeland Security. Ever since 9/11, the government has been suspicious of anyone who books or boards mass transportation at the very last minute. So, ships now have to submit a final passenger manifest no later than an hour before sailing and passengers who are not checked in and on the ship 90 minutes before it sails will be denied boarding with no refund. Travel insurance, which we always recommend, does not cover timing mistakes like this so, in short, arrive early.
If you do have a legitimate flight delay, don’t stand in line at the ticket counter—use your cell phone and call the airline. It’s much faster and you’re likely to be rescheduled way before the folks standing in line are.
You can get around these timing issues by booking your air through the cruise line’s air department. They’ll get you where you need to be on time, but you’ll have no control over the number of stops or routing and you’ll be paying as much as double for your ticket.
Booking your own air online isn’t brain surgery, but it should be done more carefully than most people do. So, do your homework, then get out the map!